[The second reticule is in the Museum of London and this cord may be a modern replacement.]

materials used

I purchased a cheap black cotton micro skirt that had lovely embroidery, but not a lot of fabric.

To retain the black/white design I used mother-of-pearl sequins and beads to
highlight the design and to catch the
light from sunlight and at night.

old oval sequins

round sequins

add pics

pearls of different sizes

fabric shape Iwanted shield-shaped panels and, amazingly, there was one in the fabric design. I copied this and made a stencil:

Before starting the bead and sequin embroidery I marked out shield-shapes for the three side panels.

I placed a sheet of grey-coloured paper over a thick piece of fabric and placed the embroidered shield on top.Using a long needle I pierced through the fabric and grey paper along the lines of the shield shape, to make a line of little holes in the paper.

I then cut out the grey shield shape

The shield shape was placed onto a sheet of pink paper and outlined in orange high-lighter.

The shield-shaped hole (stencil) was cut out of the pink paper using scissors.

Put over the fabric this enabled me to place the design exactly where I wanted it.

Yellow tailors chalk was used to draw the shape inside the stencil.

Tacking stitches in white made a semi-permanent outline. The fabric could then be beaded without the shield shape wearing away.